"That's when you kind of see that you are getting back to where you used to be," he said. "When teams start to send guards at you and sit in your lap, that's telling you they respect what you can do offensively. The great thing about playing here is we have guys who can knock down shots and I feel comfortable every time I pass it out to those guys that they can make a play. Every time they double I'm just going to kick it out."

There has been talk in NBA circles that the Raptors' decision to go with the big front line of Chris Bosh, Jermaine O'Neal and Andrea Bargnani might lead to some copycat manoeuvres from other teams. One team that could go big is the New jersey Nets but only if they stay healthy, and that's not the case right now. Six-foot-10 forward Josh Boone is out with a bone bruise, meaning rookie Brooke Lopez and second-year forward Yi Jianlian will likely go up against Bosh and O'Neal tonight. That leaves 7-footer Andrea Bargnani up against 6-foot-6 forward Bobby Simmons. When Boone is healthy again, Nets head coach Lawrence Frank will have the option of moving Jianlian to small forward with Boone and Lopez filling out the front court.

But with Calderon still not at 100 per cent, Devin Harris, New Jersey's quicker-than-most point guard, arrives at the Air Canada Centre tonight to apply some pressure to the wounded point.

"Will was a star over there, a true star," said Maurizio Gherardini, the Raptors executive. "So right now, as strange as it sounds to (North Americans), he has to cut the star's bad habits that he had over there."

Eurostars, said Gherardini, are often excused, or sometimes even encouraged, to relax on defence "because, as a star, you cannot pick up fouls" (witness Jameer Nelson driving to the hoop unharassed on Tuesday). They make casual one-handed passes because interlopers don't lurk in the passing lanes so stealthily. And if a Eurostar jumps into the air without solid intentions, "somehow, he can find a solution," said Gherardini, because the typical European defender isn't Howard-big or Howard-quick.

"Here, not only do you have to play a different way," said Gherardini, "but you play against a better competition."

"Jermaine made some big passes out of the post from double teams," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said after the win over Miami. "And you can see slowly - we were talking about 10-game increments - his defence has been the first thing to come and his offence is slowly coming."

Through their first 10 games this season, one of the biggest problems for the NetsNew jersey Nets has been their 3-point defense, with opponents shooting better against New jersey from behind the arc (.429 percent) than any other team in the league. Without improvement in that area tonight against Toronto, the Nets likely will be looking at their second straight loss.